Game two on Good Friday saw me face off against Wyrm, who was running Tomsey’s Avengers. His team comprised Captain America, Black Widow, Ironman, Thor and Hulkbuster, with the House Party Protocol team card to get both Ironman suits in there. I used the X-Men again, being Cyclops, Colossus, Rogue, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Emma Frost with the Uncanny X-Men team card.

Terrain sizes were carried forward throughout the day, with the sizes being:

Size One – rubbish piles, barrels, rubbish bins, and stools

Size Two – trees, signs and barriers

Size Three – statues

Size Four – Cars

Size Five – Trucks

Size Six – shipping containers and the burrito barn

Size Seven – Big container, crane and nightclub

We rolled up the Relic scenario, and I wasn’t sure how I’d go, as my Superhuman team has several infiltrators which are great in this scenario, whereas I had none in my X-Men team. Wyrm had the advantage here, given Black Widow could grab a Relic early and go hide with it.

Round One

Wyrm wins the initiative (seriously, what is it with round one and Mastermind for me??). As expected, Black Widow activates, grabbing the objective and moving back to the cover of the team.

Rogue flies forward.

Thor flies forward towards Rogue and makes a For Midgard attack , dealing six damage to her and pushing her back into a car.

Colossus throws Wolverine into contact with the near relic and moves forward after him.

Ironman flies forward into contact with the orange jalopy and makes an overloaded grab on it (yeah, I don’t know why it was overloaded either…), and throws it at Colossus who fails his agility roll and takes it right on the chin.

Rogue is KO’d after the punishment from Thor, but everyone else stays awake.

Round Two

I win the initative this round and start off activating Colossus. He gets up and moves into contact with one of the nearby statues, which he throws at Ironman. This hits and casues sufficient damage to push him into the red zone and is then knocked out.

Thor is up next and makes a For Midgard attack on Rogue which hits easily. He then flies into contact with her and makes a For ASgard attack which hits and incapcitates her.

Wolverine activates, making an overloaded Snikt attack on IRonman, which hits and incapacitate shim.

Hulkbuster moves forward into contact with Cyclops, then makes an overloaded grab attack, which succeeds at which point he tosses him over near Cap.

Cyclops gets up and moves back, then makes an overloaded Optical Devastation attack on Hulkbuster which just misses.

Black Widow launches an overloaded Bullet Barrage on Cyclops, hitting, and then does the same again, also hitting.

Emma Frost targets Hulkbuster with Drain Psyche, and follows it up with an Astral Bolt attack and a PsyBolt attack, both of which hit.

Cap moves into contact with Cyclops and makes a Shield Strike on him, before attempting to grab him but failing.

Colossus becomes KO’d at the end of the round.

Round Three

I win initiative again, and start with Cyclops who makes an overloaded Optic Devastation attack on Hulkbuster who uses his Energy Shield ability (details). Cyclops still manages to hit, and also scores a critical. He then moves back towards the rest of the team and uses To Me My X-men (details)

Hulkbuster moves into contact with Wolverine and makes an overloaded grab, picking him up and throwing him up on top of a nearby building.

Colossus regains consciousness, moves over to Hulkbuster and grabs him throwing him at Cap who, unsurprisingly, manages to dodge out of the way.

Thor flies over to a dumptruck, picking it up and throwing it at Colossus, who manages to get out of the way.

Emma Frost uses Drain Psyche on Hulkbuster, then launches an overloaded PsyBolt, which scores a critical hit. She then grabs the Relic and moves away.

Cap moves next to Jean Grey, grabbing her and throwing her at Colossus.

Jean Grey gets up and makes an overloaded Psychic Illusions attack on Hulkbuster, which goes critical. She then moves slightly, and uses Telekinesis on a nearby statue, throwing it at Hulkbuster. Cap intercedes, taking the hit but dodging out of the way.

Black Widow moves back, looking to hide with the relic.

Wolverine gets up and jumps down from the building, then moves into contact with Cap, grabbing him and throwing him at Hulkbuster.

Cyclops fails his Stamina roll at the end of the round and is KO’d, but everyone else remains upright.

Round Four

I win initiative again (Mastermind starting to pay off!). Wolverine moves into contact with Hulkbuster and makes an overloaded The Best There Is attack (details), which hits and incapacitates him. I claim moral victory of the game having taken down Wyrm’s largest model.

Cap gets up, moves over to the unconscious Cyclops, hitting him with a Shield Strike and then picking him up and throwing him at Colossus, which sees Cyclops incapacitated.

Colossus gets up and moves into contact with Cap and attempts an overloaded grab, which Cap Shield Blocks (details), however fails his agility roll. Colossus then misses the attack anyway.

Thor moves into the thick of it, grabbing a barricade and throwing it at Colossus who dodges, then making a For Midgard attack on Jean Grey which misses.

Emma Frost uses Diamond Form (details), then moves back into my deployment zone.

I win initiative (!), and Jean Grey flies toward Black Widow, making an overloaded Psychic Illusions attack on her which scores a critical hit.

Thor flies towards Jean Grey and makes an overloaded For Midgard attack, which hits and pushes her back 2”.

Colossus makes an overloaded grab on Cap, with Cap again failing to Shield Block it, and this time Colossus gets a grip on him and throws him into the nearby nightclub wall.

Wyrm passes

Wolverine makes a double move over to the side of the Burrito Barn, to be in position to threaten Black Widow next turn.

Cap gets up and makes two full speed moves back towards his deployment zone. Black Widow moves towards Jean Grey and makes two Bullet Barrage attacks, the first missing but the second hitting.

Round Six

Wyrm finally wins initiative, and Black Widow moves back to the edge of the board, then making a Bullet Barrage attack on Jean Grey overloaded for damage. This pushes her into the red and sees her KO’d.

Jean Grey manages to wake up and makes a Psychic Illusions attack on Black Widow, overloaded twice for two extra dice. The attack scores a critical hit and sees Black Widow KO’d, dropping the relic.

Cap makes a double move into contact with Jean Grey, then overloads a grab on her, hitting and throwing her into a nearby wall which incapacitates her.

Wolverine makes a double move into contact with Thor and attempts to grab him but misses.

Thor moves to the relic and picks it up, sealing the game for Wyrm, two victory points to one.

Conclusion

This was a good learning game for me, and ended up closer than I thought it would. With Wyrm having two big hitters in Thor and Hulkbuster, supported by Cap and Ironman, I thought he’d run away with the game. As I’d discovered playing against Hulk in previous games, mental attacks seem to be the hard counter to the larger models, especially if you can get Drain Psyche off from Emma Frost first. The other key to my success this game was Cyclops, who is the ultimate glass hammer. The damage his attacks can dish out is immense, and quickly makes him a target for your opponent, at which point he collapses in a heap.

One thing I need to be mindful of is the relative speed of characters, as the late game rush with Jean Grey and Wolverine to try and tie up Wyrm’s relic fell a bit flat. Those two and Rogue are the only models that are mobile, and losing Rogue early in the game cost my ability to threaten Black Widow later in the game.

Still plenty to learn and many more things to try out with the X-men, but definitely enjoying the dynamic of the team.

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I’ve been playing hobby games for over 20 years, getting in a mix of different miniature and board games. I enjoy all aspects of the hobby, especially generating a new anecdote from the pain of an epic dice fail. Read More…